A modern urban beat ’em up RPG
Shawn Alexander Allen (formerly of Rockstar Games) is the creator of Treachery in Beatdown City —a game that draws from Shawn’s real life experiences as a child of New York City, his love of classic Beat ’em ups, and of biting parody. Whiletalking to Shawn about his game on Sup Holmes a few months ago, I couldn’t help but think of Earthbound. Both games are turn based RPGs about exploring a big, funny, threatening version of America.
The difference is, Earthbound was a look at American culture through the eyes of a Japanese native, localized by a group of Japanese and American developers. Treachery in Beatdown City is American society, politics, race issues, and class issues through Shawn Alexander Allen’s eyes — a man that has experienced American life on multiple levels, for better or worse, richer or poorer. It’s also packed with plenty of love for good old fashioned fisticuffs.
The game is up on Kickstarter now, and as of last year, was planned for release on PC, Mac, and PS Mobile. Lets hope this one makes it.